Farm in the Garden Camp Educators

Description:

Berkshire Botanical Garden is seeking Lead and Assistant Educators for this summer’s Farm in the Garden Camp. Farm in the Garden Camp is a day camp for children ages 5-14 held on the beautiful grounds of the Berkshire Botanical Garden in historic Stockbridge, MA. Campers care for farm animals, harvest food they grow themselves, and participate in a wide range of activities: bottle-feeding lambs, making cheese, running a farm stand, fiber crafts, baking treats with eggs collected from the chicken coop, extracting honey from our beehives, and much more. The camp is small by design, with just 25 students attending each week-long session.

Essential Duties and Responsibilities:

  • The Educators will be responsible for co-leading a group of children ages 5-7, 8-10, or 11-14.
  • The Educators will be responsible for all aspects of camp life: participating in morning circle; running animal, craft, and gardening activities; overseeing snack and lunch time; communicating behavior or medical issues to the Camp Director; and generally acting as an adult presence and one of the leaders of their group throughout the camp day.
  • Outside of the camp’s standard farm-based curriculum, there is an opportunity built into each camp day for the educators to lead an activity that they design themselves. Past activities include ponding, cooking favorite recipes, creating a play, branch weaving, flower pressing, and many others.
  • Lead and Assistant Educators will also support and be supported by the Farm Specialist, Camp Director and Counselors-in-Training (CITs), as well as a handful of adult activity volunteers.
  • The Lead and Assistant Educators will report to the Camp Director.

Duration of Employment and Required Hours:

The position runs for seven weeks: a mandatory week of staff training and six weeks of camp. The position begins on Monday, June 20, 2016 and ends on Friday, August 5, 2016. The workday is Monday-Friday, 8:30am until 3:30pm.

Qualifications:

  • Previous experience working with children required
  • Experience with crafts, gardening, and farming experience preferred
  • Must be highly responsible, self-motivated, flexible, and capable of working outside all day
  • An abundance of patience for working with children as well as a good sense of humor and strong work ethic
  • Must acquire CPR/First Aid certification before the first day of camp (June 27, 2016)
  • Be able to successfully pass a background check
  • Must be 18 years of age or older and have graduated high school by June 27, 2016.

How To Apply:

Please submit a cover letter and resume to Chris Wellens, Camp Director, at cwellens@berkshirebotanical.org. Applications are accepted on a rolling basis.

Apply by:
March 18, 2016

Salary:
$10-14/hour, 35 hours/week